Abertay University Games Courses Achieve TIGA Accreditation

TIGA, the trade association representing the video games industry, is excited to announce the accreditation of the following game development courses at Abertay University in Dundee:

BA (Hons) in Game Design and Production

BSc (Hons) in Computer Game Application Development

BSc (Hons) in Computer Games Technology

BA (Hons) in Sound and Music for Games

MProf in Games Development

MSc in Computer Games Technology

BA (Hons) Computer Arts

The following areas of exceptional good practice were identified by the accreditation team:

The games courses showed strength in placing leavers into the games industry and related fields (e.g. mobile application development, FinTech, etc) that used skills developed on these courses. A survey of 312 graduates from the courses showed that 68 per cent work in the games industry or related fields and 15 per cent proceed to further study. Of exceptional note are the destinations of MSc Computer Games Technology students, of whom 90 per cent were employed by games companies and 100 per cent gained work.

The School of Design and Informatics is the location of the largest PlayStation learning facility in Europe, giving students access to the latest PlayStation technologies.

The School”s integrated learning, research and enterprise environment, the ”White Space”, is innovative in bringing students, academics and games professionals together in a shared open studio space, encouraging the exchange of ideas and the observation of professional game development practice.

The Centre for Excellence is a dedicated studio space that accommodates the simulation of professional studio practice. The physical resources are supported by client/mentorship relationships with world leading development studios and individual mentorship from world leading experts across disciplines. The centre has ”incubated” a number of start-up studios that remain and prosper in the city.

Students have access to a wide range of game engines and development platforms including PS3, PS4, PS Vita, Wii U, Oculus Rift, Steam VR, Microsoft HoloLens, Arduino and Microsoft Kinect. All students are required to develop competence in more than one engine or development environment. This gives students flexibility that will be of use in the environment of rapidly changing game development technologies.

The annual Abertay Digital Graduate Show is an exhibition of student work, giving students important exposure to industry and enabling industry to meet with graduates.

The annual Dare Academy competition is both a wonderful opportunity for students and an exemplary way of encouraging the very best game design in the UK.

There is excellent engagement with industry that results in the courses and course teams being forward looking and able to plan for delivering skills to meet future industry roles. Some staff are ex-industry, which helps with keeping the courses current and relevant. Speakers and project clients are drawn from industry contacts.

There is excellent support for widening participation, including both gender diversity and nationality as well as students from other non-traditional backgrounds.

The high position the Abertay University games courses achieve in the prestigious Princeton Review clearly demonstrates that these programmes are not only leading in the UK, but are globally significant. Abertay University is a centre of global excellence in game development education at a tertiary level.

Dr Richard Wilson OBE, TIGA CEO, said:

‘TIGA Accreditation system accredits undergraduate and postgraduate university and college courses, highlighting excellence and disseminating best practice. The TIGA Accreditation system enables students and developers to find great courses that are educating great graduates.

‘TIGA is confident that the game development courses at Abertay University deliver a range of skills at an appropriate depth and breadth for the games industry. Further, TIGA is confident that Abertay University is playing a significant role in supporting and improving game development in the UK.’

Dr Mark Eyles, Educational Advisor to TIGA and Principal Lecturer, School of Creative Technologies, University of Portsmouth, said:

‘Abertay University game development graduates are ready for working worldwide in game development studios and not only have a solid core of relevant skills, but also the ability to extend and renew those skills as new technologies and industry demands arise.

‘Of particular note at the site visit was the collegiate attitude not only amongst the staff, but also between the staff and students. This exemplary approach to engaging with students is probably one of the reasons for the continuing success of Abertay University”s game development graduates.’

Dr William Huber, Head of Centre for Excellence in Game Education, School of Design and Informatics, Abertay University, said:

‘Receiving this accreditation from TIGA is a significant achievement, and a demonstration of Abertay”s status as a world-leading centre for game education: the oldest in Europe, now in its 21st year. We are honoured by TIGA”s recognition of our commitment to prepare students for rewarding careers in this fast-changing and dynamic industry. TIGA took particular notice of our collegial and supportive environment, as well as our focus on creating future-oriented and adaptive graduates. We look forward to continuing to work with TIGA in maintaining the UK”s world-leading role in game development.’

TIGA is the network for games developers and digital publishers and the trade association representing the video games industry. Since 2010, TIGA has won 24 business awards and commendations. TIGA focuses on three sets of activities:

Political representation

Media representation

Business services

This enhances the competitiveness of our members by providing benefits that make a material difference to their businesses, including a reduction in costs and improved commercial opportunities. It also means our members” voices are heard in the corridors of power and positively represented in national, broadcast and UK video game trade media.

Vox began in the spring when the Columbia merged it weeklies entertainment magazine, and Ideas, the Sunday magazine. Since its inception, Vox has aimed to be a version of that really cool friend of yours.